I'll be posting up some kind of informal review and hopefully some video/audio samples some time next week. I didn't really like having a WP8 device for my concession line because some of the main features are not allowed by corporate, but I can't upgrade till July 25th. So I figured I'd take it. Got it in white.

Q) What can't you do on it?
A) It's not so much that I CAN'T use the social integration and stuff, it's more that I feel weird doing it on a company phone. Especially when my personal phone is WP8 and set up with all my social stuff.

Q) What is a concession phone?
A) Its a company provided device. Unlimited talk, text, 5GB of data and hotspot for free. I get a new phone every 3-4 months and they give me maybe one or two options each time. Its a big deal I got the 928 because I was already the Subject Matter Expert for the WP8 launch and they normally pick new people for the SME program if they do it over again.

Q) Will you tell us about X, Y, and Z?
A) YES! Now that the phone is public, it's fair game baby.

@honestabebread - Is this going to be a real hero phone for Verizon? Or is it just going to get lost in the mix?

It's hard to tell but it's on the main page of the employee intranet, along with a separate header about new Windows Phone 8 apps and why they're better than their iOS/Android counter parts. Verizon seems to be all about it internally, but the advertising doesn't really reflect. Hopefully they amp it up with this phone!

It's hard to tell but it's on the main page of the employee intranet, along with a separate header about new Windows Phone 8 apps and why they're better than their iOS/Android counter parts. Verizon seems to be all about it internally, but the advertising doesn't really reflect. Hopefully they amp it up with this phone!

I guess there is no point cranking up the advertising until launch - so hopefully it's coming.

Sounds like a big push internally - hopefully this is the turning point for WP8.

Honestabebread thanks a lot for all the info! There is going to be a bunch of us asking about different things, but the only thing I am really interested in is the how the xenon flash performs.. try and see if it would freeze motion, like.. people moving, or even just a simple spinning fan in the dark :)

I think its very important because it could set the phone apart from the rest, since they all have LEDs and .. well.. they all pretty much suck.

Honestabebread thanks a lot for all the info! There is going to be a bunch of us asking about different things, but the only thing I am really interested in is the how the xenon flash performs.. try and see if it would freeze motion, like.. people moving, or even just a simple spinning fan in the dark :)

I think its very important because it could set the phone apart from the rest, since they all have LEDs and .. well.. they all pretty much suck.

Vlad, just so you dont have to wait I took these shots of a spinning fan tonight with my 928 to show how the xenon freezes the motion. You will be happy :) Lumia 928 Xenon Flash vs Fan - Imgur

I know that the fan test is kind of silly, but it basically proves that at a similar distance, you will be able to freeze motion without any issues.

Looking great.. And it will only get better with future updates in terms of exposure, etc. From my perspective this is a huge selling point. Most of the other features are covered by most high end smartphones, but flash performance like this is not.. there are only a few smartphones out with such capabilities, and NON of the them are available on contract in the US, so.. this is it.

I know that there were Windows CE based phones with a xenon flash, and we had that andro based Motorola, but they both were not properly implemented..

edit. So if you happened to see spots in the frame.. those are dust particles, made visible by the fact that the xenon flash is way to close to the lens of the camera.. at least this is how Dining explained it when we asked about it back in 2010 when the N8 came out.

I know that the fan test is kind of silly, but it basically proves that at a similar distance, you will be able to freeze motion without any issues.

Looking great.. And it will only get better with future updates in terms of exposure, etc. From my perspective this is a huge selling point. Most of the other features are covered by most high end smartphones, but flash performance like this is not.. there are only a few smartphones out with such capabilities, and NON of the them are available on contract in the US, so.. this is it.

I know that there were Windows CE based phones with a xenon flash, and we had that andro based Motorola, but they both were not properly implemented..

edit. So if you happened to see spots in the frame.. those are dust particles, made visible by the fact that the xenon flash is way to close to the lens of the camera.. at least this is how Dining explained it when we asked about it back in 2010 when the N8 came out.

Agreed - I have had Xenon on two of my Nokia phones and they blow away everything including my wife's N9 at that kind of freeze the moment type shot...
So which spots are you referring to - and where is the dust? Is it on the lens (in which case, cleaning should suffice) or is it more like humidity? In which case, good luck with that :)
Id like to know, i have both the N8 and the 808 Pureview right now...and i see spots when i use the n8 but not so much the 808.
Having said that, the photos i have seen so far from EDMmmmmmm (too long!) have showed what i think details that are soft...
Nothing that Nokia cant rectify with either production firmware or camera tweaks a la 920...
Its certainly not out of their reach thats for sure.